Reviews for Plugged : A Novel

Booklist Reviews 2011 July #1Daniel McEvoy, the massive and somewhat introspective protagonist of this loopy exercise in comic mayhem, is a former Irish army sergeant who served as a UN peacekeeper attempting to keep the Israelis and Lebanese guerrillas from killing each other. It was grim, dangerous work that sent him to an army shrink. Now he's the doorman at a shabby casino in a mostly leafy New Jersey town trying to live in life's slow lane. But an obnoxious lawyer's assault of a cocktail waitress lands Daniel in the midst of cops, bent and straight; Irish American gangsters; a kidnapping; multiple murders; narcotraffickers; a crazed Rottweiler; and Zeb Kronski, a mad Israeli surgeon who performs unlicensed hair transplants and is the linchpin of all the aforementioned mayhem. Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl youth series, employs similar techniques in this one--breathless plotting, humor, and wordplay--but he adds a diverse armory of guns, grenades, and stilettos. Fans of Ken Bruen's hilarious odes to murderous psychopaths will want to get Plugged. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.

----------------------ForeWord Magazine Reviews 2011 July/August

Eoin Colfer makes his crime fiction debut with a bang. Daniel McEvoy, formerly in the Irish army's peacekeeping corps in Lebanon, possibly still shell-shocked, and definitely obsessed with his new hair plugs, works as head of security at the seedy Slotz casino in sleepy Cloisters, New Jersey, just a short train ride out of Manhattan. Just as he was hoping to spend another weekend away with cocktail waitress Connie, he becomes the primary murder suspect when she's found dead behind the casino.

Daniel is certain that lawyer Jaryd Faber, who he had to throw out of Slotz the night before for inappropriate contact with Connie, is responsible for his would-be girlfriend's killing. As if hunting down Connie's murderer isn't enough, the Slotz doorman also stumbles into the office of Dr. Zeb Kronski to find a hit man ready to strike and the surgeon (practicing quasi-medicine without a license) missing in action. Taking both investigations into his own hands and thinking like a soldier again, Daniel must dodge Cloisters's lone crime boss, a detective who can't decide whether to shoot or kiss him, and the crazy lady who lives above him.

Irish author Colfer is best known for his children's series, Artemis Fowl, which centers on a teenage mastermind and his confrontations with the fairy world. He's written numerous other books for children and teens, including the steampunk Airman, the realistic Benny and Omar, and a science fiction adventure, The Supernaturalist. For adult readers, the author has penned the sixth installment in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, And Another Thing . . . .

With swift pacing and plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very end, Colfer's crime caper has all the makings of a classic thriller. Daniel tries to hide his insecurities and chivalrous weak spot behind his wry, self-deprecating humor, and his witty voice deftly blends comedy with the noir storytelling. A clever ending leaves room for a sequel and fans clamoring for yet more of this sensitive Irish rogue.

Transplanted from Ireland to the picaresque vale of Essex County, N.J., sharp-witted, hair-challenged, ex-professional soldier Dan McEvoy finds he must cope with a nonstop barrage of problematic issues, all with pain and suffering potential.ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â Dan's used to that, however. A gypsy once told him he had "an aura that looked like shark-infested water." Consciousness raised, Dan does what he can to keep the sharks at bay. Now, down on his luck though ever hopeful, he is minding his own business as lead bouncer at Slotzâ€”an acknowledged dive, but a man's got to eat while he waits for a turn-aroundâ€”when a drunken patron plants a kiss where he shouldn't. Connie, the hostess whose anatomy has been transgressed, complains. Dan moves in and unwittingly begins a chain reaction that ends with the lead bouncer as the lead suspect in Connie's murder. The word "ends" overstates the case, of course, since Dan is to trouble what bad boys like him are to a certain kind of woman. Consider tempestuous Detective Ronelle Deacon, for instance, who beds and cuffs Dan with equal vigor. Or the deluded widow Delano, in whose erotic fantasy Dan is a stand-in for her long-lost husband. Add to this a volatile mix of ill-intentioned baddiesâ€”a shady shyster, a mobster in search of misplaced booty and an intemperate ghostâ€”who batter and bruise him from his toes to the follicles of his in-progress hair transplant, and it's a near thing whether or not Dan will make it to the sequel undoubtedly scheduled.

It's a considerable step from the world of YA to this novel's extreme raunchiness, and some in the fan baseâ€”new readers as wellâ€”may view it with alarm. Others will find the goings-on funny enough to forgive anything. Copyright Kirkus 2011 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

----------------------Library Journal Reviews 2011 June #2

Colfer, the author of the "Artemis Fowl" YA fantasy series, makes his adult crime fiction debut with this tale of Daniel McEvoy, who might be a doorman at a low-rent casino in Cloisters, NJ, but who once upon a time served two tours of active duty in the Irish army. The most excitement he's had in some time, though, is getting hair plugs from his unlicensed doctor friend, Zeb. Then Daniel finds one of Irish Mike's lieutenants waiting at Zeb's place of business, with a stiletto handy. After a bit of lethal self-defense and accompanying cover-up, Daniel returns to the club to find Connie, the hostess and potential girlfriend, dead in the parking lot. He's not sure whether to suspect the work of Irish Mike, or whether an irate customer could be to blame. The body count rises steadily as Daniel gets himself into various situations both dangerous and hilarious involving good and bad cops, crooked lawyers, barrels of steroids, and assorted mayhem. VERDICT Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard fans should enjoy this hard-boiled novel with a dash of humor. [100,000-copy first printing; national tour.]--Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids

Irish author Colfer, best known for his middle-grade Artemis Fowl series, makes his much anticipated crime novel debut with this pitch-perfect comic noir. Daniel McEvoy, an Irish army veteran turned doorman at a sleazy New Jersey casino, lives alone in an apartment (underneath a psychotic woman with a penchant for foul-mouthed tirades) and consumes copious amounts of Jameson. Obsessed with his thinning hair, he secretly undergoes hair transplant treatments. Then Connie, a cocktail hostess with whom McEvoy once had a romantic fling, is shot dead in the casino parking lot, and he suddenly finds himself on the run from the cops, a local mob boss, and a smitten psychopath with a thing for casseroles. In a typical display of mordant wit, Colfer describes a thug with a burst kidney as "writhing on the ground like an ageing break-dancer." Outrageous characters (McEvoy's boss is "a cross between Al Pacino, P. Diddy and Elmer Fudd"), uproariously funny plot twists, and brutal, nonstop action make this a sure-fire winner. 10-city author tour. (Aug.)